doctrine' and 'turn away their ears from the truth'.

Such a preacher was

Noah (2 Pet. 2:5); and such a preacher Paul claims to be in 1 Timothy 2:7 and

2 Timothy 1:11.  If there is a need for those who can enter into the ministry

of 'perfecting', there is equally a need for those who will act as 'heralds',

attracting no crowds, having perhaps few converts, meeting much opposition,

yet fulfilling a much -needed ministry.

Paul himself, as one who both prayed and practised,

is seen as the pattern Perfecter and Preacher.  We must

not forget, however, that great as Paul may be, he acknowledged a Master.

The Lord Jesus Himself was heaven's supreme Herald, for the word 'preach' in

Matthew 4:17 is kerusso.  When He said to the rich young ruler, 'If thou wilt

be perfect' He could add: 'Come and follow Me' (Matt. 19:21).  The Lord

Himself is the 'Captain and Perfecter of faith' (Heb. 12:2).

When considering the symbol of 'the messenger', we read in Proverbs

25:13 that a faithful messenger refreshes the soul of his master, like the

cold of snow in harvest.  It may at first sight seem a humble office to

perform, but when we remember that the blessings that accompany the presence

of the Lord at His Second Coming are spoken of as 'times of refreshing' (Acts

3:19), its value becomes more apparent.  The closing days of the ministry of

the apostle Paul found him 'such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a

prisoner of Jesus Christ' (Philem. 9).  This prisoner writes to Philemon a

letter, in which, apart from the touching allusion to himself just quoted,

his great concern is for others and for Onesimus in particular:

'We have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of

the saints are refreshed by thee, brother' (Philem. 7).

Philemon was a 'refresher', a title which we might well covet.  The

word is a rebuke to that conception of service that thinks only in terms of

bustle and activity, for anapauo, the word used in Philemon 7, means 'to give

rest'.  Philemon was following in the footsteps of the Lord Who said, 'Ye

shall find rest unto your souls' (Matt. 11:29).  With a different prefix

(kata instead of ana) the word is used in Hebrews 4:4, where 'God did rest on

the seventh day', a rest that is defined in verse 9 as a 'sabbatismos' that

remains for the people of God.  Paul, the aged, and a prisoner, looks to the

loving ministry of Philemon as something equivalent to a sabbath rest.

Surely this is a ministry that is not overcrowded, a service that many could

render who may not be fitted for the fight or the race.  Paul reminds

Philemon of this characteristic of his ministry because he is going to

entreat for a runaway slave who has since become a brother in Christ; and as

a conclusion to his appeal he reverts to the same thought:

'Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels

in the Lord' (Philem. 20).

In his second imprisonment the apostle had a divided experience.  Demas

forsook him; and at his first defence he had to record that all forsook him.

Yet in the midst of it all he could write with tears of joy, 'Only Luke is

with me'.

One other faithful helper is mentioned in 2 Timothy, and that is